Our article on Bangladesh and India

The government of Bangladesh responds

The Economist received the following letter from the government of Bangladesh in response to a recent article:

"Our attention has been drawn to an article on India and Bangladesh, “Embraceable you”, published in The Economist in its issue dated July 30th. We are disappointed, as the report is less than well researched and contains elements of misinformation and a misrepresentation of facts. What is more unfortunate is that the writer uses some words and sometimes draws analogies which lack decency and professional ethics. We are furnishing relevant information to put the issues in the right perspective.

The writer is of the view that the ruling Awami League (and its allies) came to power through “bags of Indian cash and advice”. This is a blatant lie and aptly speaks about the writer's utter disrespect for responsible journalism. The international community, including independent observers, hailed the historic elections in December 2008 as the freest ever in the history of the country, which was reflective of the aspirations of the people. His comment is also a slur on the democracy-loving people of Bangladesh – one of the largest democracies in the world. His observation that the transit facilities between the two countries are to meet Indian security needs at the expense of the interests of Bangladesh is also misplaced as both countries are expected to benefit immensely from it.

Bangladesh attaches the highest importance to its relations with India. These relations are time tested and based on shared history, culture, language, religion, traditions and values. The traditional relations were infused with a new dynamism following the landmark visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in January 2010 as the leadership of the two countries agreed to embark on a new era of co-operation for mutual benefit with the objective of fighting the common enemy of poverty and under-development. This signifies closer engagement in areas as diverse as joint water resources management, land boundary demarcation, trade, power, connectivity, infrastructure, culture, education, etc.

The writer may be interested to know that as a part of the initiative of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to return to the values and spirit that inspired the nation during the war of liberation, it has undertaken an exercise to honour those foreign friends who stood by the people of Bangladesh and contributed to the attainment of statehood in 1971. In this context it is widely felt that the seminal role played by the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs Indira Gandhi, deserves a special recognition. Thus she was conferred with the Bangladesh Freedom Honour (posthumously), the highest state honour for foreigners which was handed over to Mrs Sonia Gandhi when she visited Bangladesh to attend a special conference on autism. The writer has undermined both Bangladesh's struggle to attain statehood through its glorious war of liberation as well as the hand of friendship and support extended by India to Bangladesh when he refers to the Freedom Honour as ‘a gong' in a negative manner.

It may be noted that the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has undertaken a proactive policy for building up relations with not only India but with all of her neighbours in South Asia. Towards this end, there have been exchanges of high level visits from Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. One of the most significant developments in this regard has been the decision of the government to grant both Nepal and Bhutan use of Chittagong and Mongla ports for transit trade to third countries. In addition to this, Bangladesh is working to provide smooth and seamless connectivity between Bhutan, Nepal and India and to extend it through Myanmar to the countries of South-East Asia and beyond. Perhaps unknown to the writer is that this connectivity is not only through rail and road; Bangladesh has offered use of two airports situated in the north of the country to Bhutan for its own use. Bangladesh is also working on intensifying shipping linkages with Sri Lanka which will benefit not only bilateral trade but will also help to enhance trade relations with the Maldives, which has so far been stymied by a lack of air and shipping linkages between the two countries. Taking connectivity and regional co-operation one step further, Bangladesh is also working towards a joint water resources management in a sub-regional context involving Bhutan, Nepal, India and Bangladesh. This envisages water resources management for flood control and mitigation as well as augmentation of dry season flows of common rivers. An added benefit will be hydro-power generation to meet the incremental energy requirements of one of the most economically dynamic areas of the world today.

While mentioning about opposition's boycott of Parliament, the writer says that the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is “becoming increasingly autocratic”. This speaks about his poor knowledge about the numerous initiatives taken by the government to institutionalise democracy in the country. The writer is perhaps aware that the Dauphine University, a prominent Parisian university, awarded a gold medal to Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 25th May 2011 in recognition to her outstanding contribution to institutionalising and strengthening democracy, and also for her achievement in empowering the women of Bangladesh. In line with the spirit of accommodation, the present government, for the first time in history, has allocated the chairmanship of the two important standing committees of the Parliament to the opposition parties who hold only 40 seats out of 345. Even the post of deputy speaker was offered to the opposition. Despite the welcome gesture from the government, the opposition parties, quite ironically, have been boycotting parliamentary sessions for narrow political gains which undermines the country's democratic process.

The initiative of the present government to try the people involved in genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under international law, stems from the fundamental norms of a civilized society. It is reflective of the primacy of the rule of law and the rejection of impunity. The initiative draws from the overwhelming popular support for putting the perpetrators of war crimes on trial and is not prompted by any feeling of vendetta against any individual or any political party.

Without giving any research-based statistics, the writer mentions that “corruption flourishes at levels astonishing even by South Asian standards”. Fighting corruption and establishing good governance has been one of the priorities of the Government and neither any member of the present Prime Minister's family nor any Cabinet member bears the stigma of being corrupt though corruption remains a major challenge for the country. Keeping with the election mandate, the present government introduced an electronic public procurement system to ensure transparency which was possible due to the government's determination to digitalise the country. The allegation of building a personality cult around Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Father of the Nation of the Prime Minister, is just another example of poor judgment about the role of the great leader in the epic struggle of the country. The government, as per its election mandate, is trying to uphold the true history of the independence of the country which was subjected to distortion by successive military and pseudo-military governments. As regards to the “vindictive” treatment shown to Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate, the writer should have known that it was Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself who had a distinct role in patronizing and thus in making micro-credit, Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus familiar globally. The government's recent actions about Grameen Bank were taken to uphold the rule of law and not to harass anyone. The verdict of the courts, which are fiercely independent, was just reflective of the facts on the ground.

A closer look at the article indicates that the writer is carrying out the agenda of a quarter who are out to wage a smear campaign about Bangladesh and its present government led by the Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who has, through her extraordinary courage, personal sacrifice and inspiring visionary leadership, brought the country back on track of democratic governance, made the country a model for women's empowerment, food security, disaster management, poverty alleviation, and pursuing a people-centric peace building policy nationally as well as regionally and internationally. People in the region have already started enjoying the benefits of her government's strong stand against terrorism and extremism."

Why so sensitive Mr. Ahsan?
Instead of writing all the rambles about Sheikh Hasina's achievements why not focus on what is angering you so much; that the economist mentioned AL won the election with bags of Indian cash. And can we know how Bangladesh will benefit by giving India transit? I would like to have facts and figures instead of grand statements.

There is no doubt in my mind that Bangladesh Awame League (BAL) govt. came into power with bag full of money from India and other Indian tricks. And now BAL is repaying Indian loans by their strategic surrender to India, and acting in every respect according to Indian wills including giving transit against the general mass's will. We strongly oppose BAl's unconditional surrender to Indian against the core interest of Bangladesh.

"As regards to the “vindictive” treatment shown to Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate, the writer should have known that it was Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself who had a distinct role in patronizing and thus in making micro-credit, Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus familiar globally."
O Heaven !!! What a lie !!!

If your government believe in freedom of speech and democracy, why--
# Editor of Daily Amardesh was arrested?
# 2 Satellite TV channel was shut down?
# Editor of Shirsho news was arrested and his newspaper was closed?
# the British lawyer who came to Dhaka Today to watch The activity of War crime tribunal was departed from Dhaka airport after waiting him 12 hours in Dhaka airport?
Please find out the reasons?

I asked for transparancy in the deals that are being inked by the AL govt. If the government is being readily defensive about the article, it goes to show that the topic is sensitive. So why shroud the detalis of the transit deal?
- How will the deal impact Bangladeshi businesses?
- Can Bangladeshi roads handle added Indian traffic?
-What are the plans to curb illegal Indian products from flooding Bangladeshi markets (assigned guards for every Indian truck??)
- Will India lift tariff on Bangladeshi products as part of the deal? And allow Bangladeshi products to access NE India?
- Will they allow Bangladesh to access south China via NE India?
- Will they stop building Tipaimukhi dam and give Bangladesh its fair share of water from Farrakah?

Regarding "Indian cash" to win election, I guess it will be difficult to find solid proof, but as the wikileaks documents showed, there were meetings in New Dehli between Indian and American diplomats, where AL was potrayed in favourable light, which constitute as external lobbying for internal matters of Bangladesh.

"As regards to the “vindictive” treatment shown to Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate, the writer should have known that it was Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself who had a distinct role in patronizing and thus in making micro-credit, Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus familiar globally."

This could be a quotes of movie "Mr Bin". And the actress of the movie is herself the prime minister of Bangladesh.

"The verdict of the courts, which are fiercely independent, was just reflective of the facts on the ground."

Why the court not issued a rule to Bangladesh Bank for a hearing that why they were kept silent during the last 12 years about his age limit? Should we forget the comments of Dr. Kamal Hossain "I have to admit into Law School again after 5o years of my practice".

BAL obey the verdict of the court??? They have corrected the constitution based on the court verdict which is not even writtent yet???? Sheikh Hasina is rulling the country just like Gaddafi & Saddam Hossain.

Thanks to the Economist reporter to portray the underlying facts and behaviour of BAL Govt.

This message from Bangladesh Government is a complete lie. Bangladesh Government came to power with help of India and currently running according to India's advice. People of Bangladesh are completely against it. Now they know that they don't have minimum support. They removed caretaker government to stay in power forever. 90% of peple in Bangladesh likes caretaker govt, now it is removed, Hasina is following his father's steps, there will be no opposition. Bangladesh Supreme Court and High court is now politically biased by the governement employed judges. Look at the Polls done by all newspapers of Bangladesh, 90% people is against the current activities of Shekh Hasina.

Such a twaddling rejoinder resembles how dumb-headed and intolerable this Awami Government is.

Economist has rightly pointed out many interesting things. It has just let the world a splash of autocracy and vindications of the ruling government. We all know through Wikileacks how this government came to power with some invisible hands out of our border.

Just few hours back Hasina government have sent Toby Cadman - a renowned British humanitarian back to the UK from the Dhaka Airport.

Yes, I fully agree with you that BAL should file 64 defamation case in 64 district of Bangladesh what they did for "the Daily Amar Desh" editor. Even they could send BD Police ligue to close the publication of "The Economist" like Amar Desh, Channel 1 and Shirso News.

Or the could hire "Aga Choudhuri" to make size this Economist journalist.

This govt then will have to send thousands of such rejoinders...to all news papers.. first to Bangladeshi journalists who are oppressed....IN fact the in this country everything has been politicized and people of this country are in great need of a true leader....one can easily see how the entire admin, secretaries, police,public universities, and most worryingly the judiciary system has been politicized...on one hand the govt says they have nothing to do about Dr. Yunus, who has been the worst victim of a womanly jelousy in recent history... and on the other hand the President has been releasing murderers one after another who were given death penalty ... this was done just because they belong to govt party...so how can you expect fairness, good governance? and the moment you start criticizing them, you are in deep trouble...you will be put under income tax investigations..this and that...it's a different world...

Many people especially in Bangladesh are thinking that this is a great achievement for Bangladesh govt that their reaction is published at 'The Economist'. But, I think there is nothing credit for Govt that Economist has published their reaction letter rather that goes for economist. Anyway, but concern is whether this reaction from Bangladesh govt or Awami League as a party govt.

The manner and wording of the response by the Bangladesh government indicates that the Economist has hit raw nerve within the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League Government.
This is in sharp contrast to the BD government's response to the statement by the Indian PM in June, where he stated that 25% of the Bangladesh population are Jamaat supporters. This was seen by the general public as a huge insult and humiliation to the country, yet the govt of Sheikh Hasina did not lodge any complaint or demand an explanation. Instead they happily went ahead with plans for his visit to Bangladesh on September 6th and welcomed Sonia Gandhi last month, ostensibly for a conference on autism organised by Sheikh Hasina's daughter.
There is no doubt in the general public's mind that the setting up of transit routes, river sharing agreements etc will benefit India more than Bangladesh. Similar to the trade imbalance which heavily favours India as was correctly stated in the article.
It is clear to anyone who has strong links with Bangladesh that recent events such as the Prof Yunus saga, the annullment of the Caretaker Government system, the Stock Market debacle, the electricity,gas and water crisis and rising prices etc, show that the Sheikh Hasina led Awami League govt has no concern for the common man in the street and is only intent in staying in power as long as possible.
To summarise I would say that the picture in the Economist article is very apt, two dynasties are cementing their ties with long term plans for the future. One can only wish Sonia Gandhi a quick and full recovery from her cancer operation in the US.

any conscious, non-partisan citizen would tend to agree with almost every part of the report....other than bags of cash from india, which may be also be true, the real scenario in this country is even worse than that depicted....a country without rule of law cannot get any worse than this....politicians are the most corrupt here and these sycophants are causing all the problems...if prime minister is fultime busy with character assasination of opposition leader, how will she concentrate on other functions...no conscious citizen supports any of the following that hasina did on a top priority after coming to power:

* all public jobs go to partymen; no merit no class just loyalty
* tender business fully controlled by partymen; hundreds of murders
* student wing of AL running rampage throughout the country
* opposition leader was thrown out of her residence
* dr. yunus was forced to leave grameenbank as MD
* share market scam; everyone knows who were behind; no action as they are partymen
* energy crisis worst in history; 80% of energy projects go to single company which is run by a minister's brother
* price of essentials could not be controlled; no measures taken
* crime and corruption; mostly done by govt partymen
* judiciary captured; dictated by govt; verdicts reflect that clearly
* foreign ministry totally failed due to lack of experience
* police, admin, judiciary all are controlled by govt party
* death penalty murderers are given President's clemency as they are govt party workers
* press people are attacked for harsh reports on corruption

The country needs nothing but new leadership.. that is the only way out

Whatever has been published in Economist, is the view of 90% Bangladeshis all over the world. Please give a poll on this and see the response. After coming to the power with Indian Money, BAL govt has strategically surrendered to the wills and whims of India, at the cost of national interests of Bangladesh.

hope this country get rid of bad governance and sycophants....otherwise this will remain as 'bottomless basket' that nixon sarcastically said...and the ministers who are novice and immature, have already proved themselves incapable....the country has good potential...only poor governance and politicization holding it back....

Economist doesnt have to prove anything to anyone. This was not a research paper,it was an article and readers can accept or reject its views.

What is happening in Bangladesh is not only staying in Bangladesh. As much as Sheikh Hasina's government would assume that the external world is not aware of the blatant use of power, oppression of the opposition, extreme politicization of government officials are happening, WE KNOW. Just the other day, the editor of another online paper was arrested for publishing opposing views, 13 lawers are now arrested for causing chaos whilst government lawers were left alone. The constitution being changed in 10 minutes and opposition leader being ousted from her 40 year residence. Every week, there are stories like these and how does the AL government think the world would not know?

Thank God that Economist is not in Banglaesh. Otherwise, surely enough the editor and the staff wouldve been arrested by this time as other editors have been.

Mr. Ahsan, Your response shows how incapable our Foreign Ministry is? It is full of angry words. A deplomat is who would say neither yes nor no.

Also we should spend energy in providing proper counselling to beloved wage earners who are keeping our economy alive. What is happening with new labor market? Not hearing anything these days about much talked about "Farming in Africa."

Why do you even mention doctorate degree? She earned 20+ doctorate degree last time. People want to know how much of deplomatic efforts were made behind these degrees?

Relation with India:
- giving transit to India is the only issue this government is working on since they came to power, while they never talk about the issues of the River water sharing, Boarding killing by Indian Guards, No access of Bangladeshi goods in India...etc Because the transit is a payback from Hasina to India

Media and Newspaper:
freedom of media is all but gone, journalist are been jailed tortured, TV channels are been closed, and just few days ago one female journalist were beaten and harassed in the main street of Dhaka in the broad day light by Hasina'a gangs and then police refused to take that case and the 'Female' home minister was not even aware of it !

Economy:
since they came in power, every single major establishment of the country are 'renamed', from Major Hospitals to International airports to roads and bridges

Law and justice:
whole constitution of the country is changed to serve and honer Hasina and her party, High court judges were removed, Police become the enemy of the people, everyday students/innocent people are being killed, jailed and tortured for no reasons, all most all of the opposition party members are in jail.

Microcredit:
Yunus was removed because he wanted to start a career in politics ! and Hasina's ministers publicly claimed that Hasina should get the Nobel prize instead! and today they claim that Hasina also deserve all the credit for Micro-credit

Autocracy:
not only people have to put Mujib and Hasina's pictures like Saddam era of Iraq but the civil liberty of it's people is crushed